Li Maozhen, born Song Wentong, courtesy name Zhengchen, formally Prince Zhongjing of Qin, was the only ruler of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Qi.
46 Facts About Li Maozhen
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Li Maozhen had become a powerful warlord during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, the penultimate emperor of the preceding Tang dynasty, with his power centered on his capital Fengxiang, and at times had effective control of Emperor Zhaozong.
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Li Maozhen died soon thereafter, and was succeeded as by his son Li Jiyan as the military governor of Fengxiang, but as Li Jiyan was not made the Prince of Qi or Qin at that point, this was typically viewed as the end of Qi as an independent state.
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Emperor Zhaozong, concerned that if Li Maozhen defeated the Yangs, he would be even more difficult to control, initially ordered that the sides negotiate.
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In fall 892, Li Maozhen captured Feng Prefecture, forcing Yang Fugong's follower Man Cun the military governor of Ganyi Circuit to flee to Xingyuan.
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Li Maozhen then captured Xing and Yang Prefectures, and had his relatives take over as prefects of those prefectures.
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Meanwhile, seeing an opening to further expand his influence when Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit and Gu Yanhui the acting military governor of Dongchuan Circuit, who were previously allies, had a break, Li Maozhen recommended to Emperor Zhaozong that Gu be made full military governor; Emperor Zhaozong followed that recommendation.
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Still, Li Maozhen, disappointed at being stripped of Fengxiang, refused to comply.
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Li Maozhen further sent arrogant petitions to Emperor Zhaozong deriding him for being unable to defeat the Yangs and unable to control the warlords, and harshly-worded letters to Du Rangneng.
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Emperor Zhaozong, in anger, decided to prepare a campaign against Li Maozhen, disregarding Du's analysis that the imperial government had insufficient strength to defeat Li Maozhen at that time and further putting Du in charge of planning the operations.
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Li Maozhen found out what Emperor Zhaozong was planning, as Du's fellow chancellor, Cui Zhaowei, was an ally of both Li Maozhen and Wang Xingyu and was secretly revealing the events at court to them.
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Li Maozhen tried to ward of Emperor Zhaozong's plans by mobilizing supporters at Chang'an to protest the campaign, but Emperor Zhaozong was not swayed.
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Li Maozhen approached Chang'an to threaten Emperor Zhaozong, who claimed that the campaign was Ximen Junsui's idea and executed him and fellow eunuchs Li Zhoutong and Duan Xu.
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Li Maozhen thus controlled four circuits, containing 15 prefectures.
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Li Maozhen stayed at Chang'an for a few days before returning to Fengxiang.
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In fall 894, Li Maozhen attacked Lang Prefecture and captured it.
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Wang and Li Maozhen thus submitted repeated petitions insisting on Li Xi's removal, and Emperor Zhaozong was forced to agree.
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Li Maozhen then crossed the Yellow River and attacked Kuangguo; Wang Xingyue abandoned the circuit and fled to Chang'an.
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Li Maozhen then put Han's capital Hua Prefecture under siege.
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Li Maozhen, despite sending the emissaries to the emperor and Li Keyong, sent troops to aid Wang.
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Li Keyong then secretly suggested to Emperor Zhaozong that a campaign be launched against Li Maozhen, warning the emperor that without Li Maozhen's destruction, the imperial government would not be safe.
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Li Maozhen captured some territory in the Hexi Corridor region and made his subordinate Hu Jingzhang the military governor of Hexi Circuit.
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Li Maozhen thus launched his army and approached the capital, defeating the army that Emperor Zhaozong sent under Li Sizhou's command to defend against the attack.
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Li Maozhen entered Chang'an and burned the palace and other office buildings, although he subsequently submitted an apologetic petition and offered to repair the palaces and the offices.
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Meanwhile, Wang Jian resumed his attacks on Dongchuan, and when Li Maozhen sent his adoptive son Li Jihui to assist Gu Yanhui, Li Jihui was repelled by Wang Jian's adoptive son Wang Zongjin.
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Li Maozhen had submitted a petition accusing Wang Jian of attacking Dongchuan against imperial orders.
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Only after Han wrote Li Maozhen did Li Maozhen lift the siege on Fengtian to allow Li Sizhou to return to Hua.
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At the request of the chancellor Cui Yin, who was fearful that surviving eunuchs would make a comeback, Li Maozhen left 3,000 Fengxiang soldiers at Chang'an to counteract the Shence Army, which remained under the command of eunuchs Han Quanhui and Zhang Yanhong.
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Li Maozhen was unwilling to give up the yeast monopoly, and requested to go to Chang'an to explain his reasons to Emperor Zhaozong.
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When Li Maozhen got to Chang'an, Han entered into an alliance with him.
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Li Maozhen had Emperor Zhaozong issue an edict ordering Zhu to return to Xuanwu; Zhu initially reacted by leaving Fengxiang, but then instead headed north to attack Jingnan.
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In summer 902, Li Maozhen tried to take back the initiative by gathering his own troops and exiting the city, to engage Zhu at Guo County, but was defeated at the loss of thousands of his men.
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Gao further suggested that a decisive victory against Li Maozhen could be had by laying a trap for Li Maozhen.
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Li Maozhen subsequently carried out the slaughter and delivered the heads to Zhu.
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Li Maozhen offered to be relieved of the title of Shangshu Ling, and was again made Zhongshu Ling.
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Li Maozhen had Emperor Zhaozong's son Li Zuo the Prince of Hui declared emperor.
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In 906, Li Maozhen sent Li Jikan to Xichuan as a hostage.
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Li Maozhen, knowing that his state of Qi was weak, did not dare to declare himself emperor.
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Indeed, it was said that his army was so weakened by this point that, in 908, when Li Keyong's son and successor Li Cunxu the Prince of Jin tried to lift the siege that Later Liang forces were laying on Li Sizhao at Zhaoyi Circuit, Li Maozhen was not able to send any aid at all.
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Li Maozhen, thereafter, acting as the representative of the Tang emperor, bestowed on Yang Longyan the titles of Zhongshu Ling and Prince of Wu.
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Li Maozhen therefore surrendered to Qi and made a surprise attack on Chang'an, capturing it and delivering Liu Han to Fengxiang to be executed.
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In 910, Li Maozhen all sent forces, joined by Jin forces, to attack Li Renfu the military governor of Later Liang's Dingnan Circuit.
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Li Maozhen thereafter gathered his troops, posturing a potential attack against Former Shu.
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In 918, Li Maozhen sent emissaries to again seek peace with Former Shu.
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Emperor Zhuangzong received Li Jiyan warmly and granted the title of Zhongshu Ling on him, while he honored Li Maozhen by referring him only by his formal title of Prince of Qi, not by his name, in edicts.
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Li Maozhen subsequently created Li Maozhen the Prince of Qin, still not referring to him by name and still not requiring him to bow to the imperial emissaries sent to declare this new creation.